Flapper  

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The term flapper in the 1920s referred to a "new breed" of young women who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered "decent" behavior. The flappers were seen as brash in their time for wearing makeup, drinking hard liquor, treating sex in a more casual manner, and smoking cigarettes, and otherwise flouting conventional social and sexual norms.

Flappers had their origins in the period of liberalism, social and political turbulence and increased transatlantic cultural exchange that followed the end of the First World War, as well as the export of American jazz culture to Europe.

Etymology

The slang word "flapper", used to mean a young woman, is commonly supposed to be a reference to a young bird flapping its wings while learning to fly. It may however derive from an earlier use in northern England to mean "teenage girl" (that is, one whose hair is not yet put up and whose plaited pigtail "flapped" on her back);<ref>Evans, Ivan H. Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (rev. ed.) New York: Harper & Row, 1981 ISBN 0-06-014903-5</ref> or from an older word meaning "prostitute".<ref>Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper, Historian. 26 Apr. 2007.</ref> The slang word flap was used for a young prostitute as far back as 1631.<ref>James Mabbe, Celestina IX. 110 "Fall to your flap, my Masters, kisse and clip. Ibid. 112 Come hither, you foule flappes."</ref> By the late 19th century the word "flapper" was emerging in England as popular slang both for a very young prostitute<ref>Barrere & Leland, Dictionary of Slang: "Flippers, flappers, very young girls trained to vice" (1889)</ref> and in a more general and less derogatory sense of any lively mid-teenage girl.<ref>Lowsley, Barzillai, A glossary of Berkshire words and phrases 1888 (E.D.S.):"Vlapper,..applied in joke to a girl of the bread-and-butter age."</ref>

The word appeared in print in the United Kingdom as early as 1903, when novelist Desmond Coke used it in his college story of Oxford life, Sandford of Merton: "There's a stunning flapper".<ref>Oxford English Dictionary, 1989 edition.</ref> By 1908, newspapers as serious as The Times used it, although with careful explanation: "A 'flapper', we may explain, is a young lady who has not yet been promoted to long frocks and the wearing of her hair 'up'".<ref>The Times, Thursday, Feb 20, 1908; pg. 15; Issue 38574; col F</ref> By November 1910, the word was popular enough for the author A.E.James to begin a series of stories in the London Magazine featuring the misadventures of a pretty fifteen-year-old girl and titled 'Her Majesty the Flapper'.<ref>http://www.philsp.com/homeville/FMI/f25.htm JAMES, A.E., Her Majesty the Flapper, London Magazine, 1910.</ref> By 1911 a newspaper review indicates the mischievous and flirtatious ‘flapper’ was an established stage-type.<ref>The Times, Thursday, Mar 23, 1911; pg. 10; Issue 39540; col C , reviewing the 1911 comedy ‘Lady Patricia’: ‘Now the “flapper” is Miss Clare Lesley, the Dean’s tomboy daughter...’ In the play a mature married couple, Patricia and Michael, vainly pursue slang-talking teenagers Billy and Clare, and so ‘Clare, out of the charity of youth for enamoured maturity, indulges Michael with a little mild flirtation’ before at the end finding real love with Billy, who is her own age. The actress playing the flapper is characterized as ‘full of youth and “go” ’.</ref>

[[File:Clara Bow Brewster 1921.PNG|upright|thumb|right|Clara Bow in 1921, before she became a star]]

Some have suggested that the flapper concept as a stage of life particular to young women was imported to England from Germany, where it originated "as a sexual reaction against the over-fed, under-exercised monumental woman, and as a compromise between pederasty and normal sex".<ref>The Long Week End: a Social History of Great Britain, 1918–1939; Robert Graves, Alan Hodge, 1994. pp. 33–34</ref> In Germany flappers were called "backfisch", which meant a young fish not yet big enough to be sold in the market.<ref>German Wiktionary and Wikipedia</ref><ref>An article in the New Brunswick Times, 24 February 1910 describes a “backfisch” as ”... a typical German girl of the well to do class between the ages of fifteen and seventeen. Before she gets to be fifteen she is simply a “kid” as we say in this country. But for those two years she is a backfisch pure and simple.” The article implies the girl is so designated to prevent someone no longer a child attempting to assume the airs of an adult woman: “These German frauleins dare not do so, because they know they are mere backfisches.” The article concludes “And over in England, as I learned, they call a girl of about fifteen a “flapper.” If I were still but fifteen I am sure I would prefer being a backfisch.”</ref> The concept of 'backfisch' was known in England by the late 1880s, though it seems to have been understood to mean a more demure social type<ref>"Let us introduce the word ‘Backfisch’, for we have the Backfisch always with us. She ranges from fifteen to eighteen years of age, keeps a diary, climbs trees secretly, blushes on the smallest provocation, and has no conversation." 1891 Pall Mall Gaz. 29 Aug. 3/2, quoted in the Oxford English Dictionary, 1989, 2nd. ed.</ref> compared with the English flapper, who was typically rebellious and defiant of convention.

By 1912, the London theatrical impresario John Tiller, defining the word in an interview he gave to the New York Times, described a 'flapper' as belonging to a slightly older age group, a girl who has "just come out".<ref>"Mr. Tiller explained the difference between a "pony" and a "flapper". A pony, he said, is a small dancer who may be of any age. A flapper is a girl who has just "come out". She is at an awkward age, neither a child nor a woman, and she is just as likely to develop into a show girl as a pony." 'Some facts about the ballet', New York Times, 31 March 1912. Tiller's use of the phrase 'come out' has the meaning "to make a formal entry into ‘society’ on reaching womanhood" (Oxford English Dictionary). In polite society at the time a teenage girl who had not 'come out' would still be classed as a child. She would be expected to keep a low profile on social occasions and ought not to be the object of male attention.</ref> Although the word was still largely understood as referring to high-spirited teenagers<ref>The Times, Wednesday, Jul 15, 1914; pg. 1; Issue 40576; col B: "“The father of a young lady, aged 15 – a typical “FLAPPER” – with all the self assurance of a woman of 30 would be grateful for the recommendation of a seminary (not a convent) where she might be placed for a year or two with the object of taming her. It is not EDUCATION she requires, she has too much of that already...”</ref> gradually in Britain it was being extended to describe any impetuous immature woman.<ref>In a letter written in 1913 a man addressed his 21-year-old girlfriend as his “flapper”:“I cannot bear to think of my flapper without an engagement ring.” The Times, Thursday, Oct 16, 1913; pg. 15; Issue 40344; col D ‘£600 Damages For Breach Of Promise’</ref> Usage increased during World War I, perhaps due to the visible emergence of young women into the workforce to supply the place of absent men: a Times article on the problem of finding jobs for women made unemployed by the return of the male workforce is headed "The Flapper's Future".<ref>The Times Thursday, Oct 16, 1919; pg. 7; Issue 42232; col B</ref> By 1918, the word could also be used teasingly of a "pleasure-loving" older woman: a Dr. Whatley, accused of adultery with the wife of Major Sydney George Everitt of Knowle Hall, Knowle, was asked in court why he had begun a verse to her with the words "There once was a flapper named Mary".<ref>"Was that Mrs Everitt?" – "Yes." Why did you call this married woman with two children a flapper?" — "It is impossible to give a reason." The Times, Thursday, 30 Oct 1919; pg. 5; Issue 42244; col A</ref>

By 1920, the term had taken on the full meaning of the flapper generation style and attitudes. In his lecture that year on Britain's surplus of young women caused by the loss of young men in war, Dr. R. Murray-Leslie criticized "the social butterfly type… the frivolous, scantily-clad, jazzing flapper, irresponsible and undisciplined, to whom a dance, a new hat, or a man with a car, were of more importance than the fate of nations."<ref>The Times, Thursday, 05 Feb 1920; pg. 9; Issue 42326; col A</ref>

Evolution of the image

The first appearance of the word and image<ref>The word itself was in American usage earlier: see reference above to New Brunswick Times article, 24 February 1910, which concludes "“And over in England, as I learned, they call a girl of about fifteen a “flapper.” ..."</ref> in the United States came from the popular 1920 Frances Marion film, The Flapper, starring Olive Thomas.<ref name="olive">Memories of Olive. assumption.edu.</ref> Thomas starred in a similar role in 1917, though it was not until The Flapper that the term was used. In her final movies, she was seen as the flapper image.<ref>Long, Bruce (editor). Taylorology: A Continuing Exploration of the Life and Death of William Desmond Taylor. Arizona State University.</ref> Other actresses, such as Clara Bow, Louise Brooks, Colleen Moore and Joan Crawford would soon build their careers on the same image, achieving great popularity.<ref name="olive" />

In the United States, popular contempt for Prohibition was a factor in the rise of the flapper. With legal saloons and cabarets closed, back alley speakeasies became prolific and popular. This discrepancy between the law-abiding, religion-based temperance movement and the actual ubiquitous consumption of alcohol led to widespread disdain for authority. Flapper independence may also have origins in the Gibson girls of the 1890s. Although that pre-war look does not resemble the flapper style, their independence may have led to the flapper wise-cracking tenacity 30 years later.

Writers in the United States such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Anita Loos and illustrators such as Russell Patterson, John Held Jr., Ethel Hays and Faith Burrows popularized the flapper look and lifestyle through their works, and flappers came to be seen as attractive, reckless, and independent. Among those who criticized the flapper craze was writer-critic Dorothy Parker, who penned "Flappers: A Hate Song" to poke fun at the fad. The secretary of labor denounced the "flippancy of the cigarette smoking, cocktail-drinking flapper."<ref name="Zeitz">Zeitz, Joshua Zeitz, Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, p. 6.</ref> A Harvard psychologist reported that flappers had "the lowest degree of intelligence" and constituted "a hopeless problem for educators."<ref name="Zeitz" />

A related but alternative use of the word "flapper" in the late 1920s was as a media catch word that referred to adult women voters and how they might vote differently than men their age. While the term "flapper" had multiple uses, flappers as a social group were distinct from other 1920s fads. Template:Clear

Behavior

Flappers' behavior was considered outlandish at the time and redefined women's roles. The image of flappers were young women who went to jazz clubs at night where they danced provocatively, smoked cigarettes through long holders, and dated freely, perhaps indiscriminately. They rode bicycles, drove cars, and openly drank alcohol, a defiant act in the American period of Prohibition. Petting became more common than in the Victorian era. Petting Parties, where petting ("making out" or foreplay) was the main attraction, became popular.

Flappers also began working outside the home and challenging women's traditional societal roles. They advocated voting and women's rights. With time, came the development of dance styles then considered shocking, such as the Charleston, the Shimmy, the Bunny Hug, and the Black Bottom.

They were also considered a significant challenge to traditional Victorian gender roles, devotion to plain-living and hard work, religion and more. Increasingly, women discarded old, rigid ideas about roles and embraced consumerism and personal choice, and were often described in terms of representing a "culture war" of old versus new. In this manner, flappers were an artifact of larger social changes — women were able to vote in the United States in 1920, and religious society had been rocked by the Scopes trial.<ref>Flapper: a madcap story of sex, style, celebrity, and the women who made America modern; Joshua Zeitz; Random House, 2007. "Here was where the modern culture could prove threatening to the Victorians. The ethos of the consumer market glorified not only self-indulgence and satisfaction, but also personal liberty and choice. It invited relativism in all matters ranging from color schemes and bath soap to religion, politics, sex and morality."</ref>

For all the concern about women stepping out of their traditional roles, however, some say many flappers weren't necessarily particularly engaged in politics. In fact, older suffragettes, who fought for the right for women to vote, viewed flappers as vapid and in some ways unworthy of the enfranchisement they had worked so hard to win. Others argued, though, that flappers' laissez-faire attitude was simply a natural progression of feminine liberation, the right having already been won. Dorothy Dunbar Bromley, a noted liberal writer at the time, summed up this dichotomy by describing flappers as "truly modern", "New Style" feminists who "admit that a full life calls for marriage and children" and also "are moved by an inescapable inner compulsion to be individuals in their own right."<ref>Flapper: a madcap story of sex, style, celebrity, and the women who made America modern; Joshua Zeitz; Random House, 2007.</ref>

Slang

Flappers had their own slang, using terms like "snuggle pup" (a man who frequents petting parties) and "barney-mugging" (sex). Their dialect sometimes reflected their feelings about marriage and drinking habits: "I have to see a man about a dog" often meant going to buy whiskey, and a "handcuff" or "manacle" was an engagement or wedding ring. Also reflective of their preoccupations were phrases to express approval, such as "That's so Jake", "That's the bee's knees," and the popular "the cat's meow" or "cat's pyjamas". A 1922 U.S. newspaper article lists the words "junk", "necker", "heavy necker" and "necking parties" as contemporary flapper slang.<ref>New York times, 26 March 1922:'SHIFTERS NO LONGER APPEAL TO FLAPPER': "..."The epithets she has evolved from her own lexicon are "junk", "necker" and "heavy necker". "Junk" is anything she considers unimportant or unworthy of consideration. A "necker" is a "petter" who puts her arms around a boy's neck. A "heavy necker" is a "petter" who hangs heavily on said neck. "Necking parties" have superseded "petting parties". The anonymous flapper in the article also uses the word "jazz" in the sense of excitement or fun. All the words quoted however are given earlier references in the Oxford English Dictionary, so although they may have been popular among young women in the 1920s they did not originate with them.</ref>

Many terms still in use in modern American English slang originated as flapper slang such as "big cheese", meaning an important person; "to bump off", meaning to murder; and "baloney", meaning nonsense. Other terms became definitive of the Prohibition era such as "speakeasy", meaning a place to purchase illegal alcohol and "hooch", meaning liquor.

Appearance

In addition to their irreverent behavior, flappers were known for their style, which largely emerged as a result of French fashions,<ref name="Rae" /> especially those pioneered by Coco Chanel, the effect on dress of the rapid spread of American jazz, and the popularization of dancing that accompanied it.<ref>http://www.fashion-era.com/flapper_fashion_1920s.htm#The Short Skirt Misconception Of The Twenties: "Shortness is a popular misconception reinforced by the availability of moving film of the Charleston dance which shows very visible knees and legs on the dancing flappers."</ref> Called garçonne in French ("boy" with a feminine suffix), flapper style made girls look young and boyish: short hair, flattened breasts, and straight waists accentuated it. By at least 1913, the association between slim adolescence and a certain characteristic look became fixed in the public's mind. Lilian Nordica, commenting on New York fashions that year, referred to

a thin little flapper of a girl donning a skirt in which she can hardly take a step, extinguishing all but her little white teeth with a dumpy bucket of a hat, and tripping down Fifth Avenue.<ref>New York Times, January 1, 1913: "Mme. Nordica Buys No Paris Gowns"</ref>

At this early date, it seems that the style associated with a flapper already included the boyish physique<ref>New York Times, January 1, 1913:"Mme Nordica Buys No Paris Gowns" Template:Nb5 "...when a lady of uncertain age and very certain development attempts the same little costume because it looks well on the thin little girl, well -" And Mme. Nordica left the result to the interviewer's imagination."</ref> and close-fitting hat, but a hobble skirt rather than one with a high hemline.<ref name="Rae">Template:Cite book</ref>

Although the appearance typically associated now with flappers (straight waists, short hair and a hemline above the knee) did not fully emerge until about 1926,<ref>Evolution of the flapper fashion </ref> there was an early association in the public mind between unconventional appearance, outrageous behaviour, and the word "flapper". A report in The Times of a 1915 Christmas entertainment for troops stationed in France described a soldier in drag burlesquing feminine flirtatiousness while wearing "short skirts, a hat of Parisian type and flapper-like hair".<ref>The Times, Thursday, 30 Dec 1915; pg. 7; Issue 41050; col E, Pantomime At The Front, Soldier "Heroines".: "There was, for instance, a Maid Marian in the cast, who was described as a "dainty dam'sell" because she was a sergeant. There was something ridiculously fascinating about that sergeant, for he was in blue short skirts, a hat of Parisian type and flapper-like hair; and when she was instructing Ferdinand, a Bad Lad...in the use of the "glad eye", the great audience shouted with laughter."</ref>

Despite the scandal flappers generated, their look became fashionable in a toned-down form among respectable older women. Significantly, the flappers removed the corset from female fashion, raised skirt and gown hemlines, and popularized short hair for women. Among actresses closely identified with the style were Olive Borden, Olive Thomas, Dorothy Mackaill, Alice White, Bebe Daniels, Billie Dove, Helen Kane, Joan Crawford, Leatrice Joy, Norma Shearer, Laura La Plante, Norma Talmadge, Clara Bow, Louise Brooks, and Colleen Moore.

Apparel

Flapper dresses were straight and tight, leaving the arms bare (sometimes no straps at all) and dropping the waistline to the hips. Silk or rayon stockings were held up by garters. Skirts rose to just below the knee by 1927, allowing flashes of leg to be seen when a girl danced or walked through a breeze, although the way they danced made any long loose skirt flap up to show their legs. It is a common misconception that flappers rouged their knees.Template:Citation needed Popular dress styles included the Robe de style. High heels also came into vogue at the time, reaching 2–3 inches (5–8 cm) high.<ref name="Rae" />

Lingerie

Flappers did away with corsets and pantaloons in favor of "step-in" panties. Without the old restrictive corsets, flappers wore simple bust bodices to make their chest hold still when dancing. They also wore new, softer and suppler corsets that reached to their hips, smoothing the whole frame, giving women a straight up and down appearance, as opposed to the old corsets which slenderized the waist and accented the hips and bust.<ref name="Rae" />

The lack of curves of a corset promoted a boyish look. Adding an even more boyish look, the Symington Side Lacer was invented and became a popular essential as an every-day bra. This type of bra was made to pull in the back to flatten the chest.<ref name="Rae" /> Other women envied flappers for their flat chests and bought the Symington Side Lacer to enhance the same look. Hence, flat chests became appealing to women, although flappers were the most common to wear such bras.

Hair and accessories

Boyish cuts were in vogue, especially the Bob cut, Eton crop, and Shingle bob. Finger Waving was used as a means of styling. Hats were still required wear and popular styles included the Newsboy cap and Cloche hat.

Jewelry usually consisted of art deco pieces, especially many layers of beaded necklaces. Pins, rings, and brooches came into style. Horn-rimmed glasses were also popular.

Cosmetics

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